Are we shooting our wounded?

I’m not talking about deserters but those walking wounded that have stepped on a landmine and need a caring, gentle hand to nurse them back to health. Yes the great physician may have amputated a hand, maybe even a leg, but are we then court marshaling our brothers for being damaged?

We all are walking wounded. Your limp, my missing limb, we all are damaged. Yet I see time and time again we look at someone failing, and that being used as a reason to shoot our wounded. I’m not talking about those instances like those referred to by Jesus in Matthew 18 where a brother is in opposition to God. But what about the sister who way back when did X, and so today she is still being shunned? The recovering addict, the former gang member, the ex-con, or even the divorced.

Those people

“People will know you are my disciples because of your love for one another.” Sometimes we, yes we, get so caught up in what someone else might think, that we lack compassion for those around us. The congregation(church) I attend used to be known as “the drugie” church. I almost wish we still were. Not because I want to see people addicted, but because it is up to us to make God known to those who need Him. It’s all well and good to belong to a congregation where everyone comes dressed up in their Sunday best. But there also needs to be a place for the hurting, the damaged, the lost, the Christian ethic demands it.

Love others well.

Expect the best of people. Raise up God’s standard. But don’t go adding to it. Yes Jesus said “Go and sin no more” but He also made a point of reaching out to Peter after the resurrection.

We, you and I, are not suffering from an abundance of love, and grace towards those around us. Maybe it is time to change that.